Carbonic-acid-gas generator



(No Model.)

P. J. MAGUIRE. 4 CARBONIO ACID GAS GENERATOR.-

Patented July 5, 1892.

uni..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PATRICK J.. MAGUIRE, OF SALEM, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN SODA FOUNTAINCOMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

cARBoNic-AClDv-GAS GENERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,198, dated July 5,1892.

Application niednmh 29, 189,2. sayin No.' 426,961. di@ model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PATRICK J. MAGUIRE, a citizen of the UnitedStates,rresidi ng at'Saleni, in the county of Essex and State of Mas#sachusetts, have invented certain Improve# ments in Carbonic-Acid-GasGenerators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accom-- panying drawings, makingpart of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is a transverse Verticalsection of a carbonic-acid-gas generator embodying my lnvention. Fig. 2is a top view of the acidchanlber. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section j onkvfor its object to improve the construction of the apparatus wherebyexplosion from excess-v ive pressure is rendered impossible under anycircumstances Whatever; and to this end my lnvention consists in thecombination,

with the back-pressure or check valve whichV is applied at the upper endof the siphon rising within said acid-chamber and communicating with thealkali-chamber, of an Aadjustable pressure-regulating governor con-Lnected with said check-valve insuch manner that While it Will notinterfere With the ordi` nary operation of the latter it will, When thepressure in the acid-chamber reaches a pre'- determined Joint o en saidcheck-,valve toequalize the pressure in the acid and alkali chambers andhold said valve open so long as the pressure remains at or above thepoint at which said governor has been set to act, thus stopping allfurther iiow of acid, holding the pressure in the apparatus at theproperworking-point, Whether it is in operation or not,

and preventing any undue accumulation of:

acid in the alkali-chamber when the agitators are at rest, ashereinafter more particularly set forth'.

In the said drawings, A represents the alkali-chamber of acarbonic-acid-gas generator,

upon which 4is secured, by means of bolts a., i

in the ordinary manner, the acid chamber or receptacle B, provided, asusual, with a lead .lining b, thepassage between the said chambers Al Bbeing provided with a lead bushing c, having a flange d, which isconfined between the flanges of the acid and alkali cham: bers, asshown, a suitable packing of lead being provided at the joint betweenthe said chambers, as usual. Within the upper end of the bushing c isfitted the end of apipe D, 'which extends up vertically Within the acid-IchamberB, and is surrounded by an outer casing .or jacket E, the lowerend of which is Vtightly soldered to the upper surface of the liange CZof the bushing c, immediately above iwliich and as closely as possibleto the bottom of the acid-chamber are formed openings f'for: the passageof the acid which flows into ,the space l0 between the jacket E and thepipe D and rises within said` space until it finds its level. The upper,end of the jacket E, which extends above the top/,of the .pipe D, isprovidedwith a back-pressiireor check valve G, opening f upward Ainto'the Vacidchamber, through which valve the gas from the alkali-chambermay escape into the acidchamber B lto create a pressureupon the surfaceofthe acid therein, the pipe D and outer easing E when the valve G isclosed 'forming a siphou through which the' acid is delivered to thealkali-chamber A, and thus whenever the pressure in the chamber B eX-ceeds that in the alkali or generating chamber A the acid is caused toflow over the top of vthe pipe D and down therethrough into thealkali-chamber A, while as soon as the pressure in thegenerating-chamber A equals that in the chamber B the flow of acid willbe stopped, and consequently the generation of gas will be checked andliability of explosion avoided, the pipe D thus forming a portion of theequalizing-pipe, and also serving 'as a ydelivery-pipe for the acid.

:7c is an opening in the cover g, through Awhich the acid is poured intothe chamber B,

said opening being closed by a screw-cap Z. (Shown dotted in Fig. 2.)

H is a pressuregage, and I a safety-valve, both of the usualconstruction.

'The apparatus thus far described is substantially the same as thatshown and described in my aforesaid Letters Patent of IOO January 2G,1392, its construction and mode of operation being referred to in orderto more clearly illustrate the improvements which form the subject of mypresent in vention, and which I will now proceed to describe.

The cover f/ of the acid-chamber B is provided at its center with alargeaperture having a threaded bushing It, to which is tittedapressure-regnlating governor K, provided be tween the upper and lowerportions of its casing with an elastic diaphragm m, to the upper side ofwhich is iitted a vertical spindle n, which projects up through acylindrical chamber p at thetop of the governor-casing, within whichsaid spindle is encircled by a spiral spring q, confined between awasher l5, resting on the shoulder 16 of the governorcasing, and an adjust-able cap o', screwed over the top ot' the chamber p, the force ofthe spring q being regulated by screwing the cap fr up or down, wherebythe governor maybe adjusted or set so that its diaphragm willbe raisedwhen a predetermined gas-pressure in the acid-chaniber is reached,thispressure being preferably that at which thel apparatus is to be worked.The spindle n extends up through an aperture s in the screw-cap r and isprovided at its top with a knob or enlargement the movement of whichwill indicate when the governor has been properly adj usted to act at agiven pressure, as indicated by the pressure-gage Il. To the under sideot the diaphragm m is secured a spindle fw, which passes through a guidea', and is provided at. its lower end with a cylindrical coupling L,which is loosely connected with the stem b oi' the back-pressure orcheck valve G in such manner as not to interfere with the ordinaryoperatioii of the latter, previously described, the stem b slidingfreely through the bottom of the coupling L and being provided at itsupper end with a nut c', with which the bottom of the coupling L isbrougnt into contact when the pressure of gas in the chamber B issufiicient to overcome the pressure of the spring q and raise thediaphragm m, the valve G being thus opened and held open as long as theworking or other pressure at which the governor has been set to act ismaintained, thus preventing any further ow of the acid into the chamberAand holding the pressure in the apparatus at the proper working pointwhether it is in operation or not, whereby all danger o' explosion underany ciicumstan ces whatever is avoided.

It will be obvious that the holding of the check-valve G open by meansot' the governor K whenever the gas-pressure in the apparatus reaches apredetermined limit will effectually prevent any accumulation of acid inthe alkali-chamberA in case the apparatus should be left by theattendant with the agitator-blades at rest, for the reason that il", inconsequence of a slight leakage of gas at the joints, the pressureshould become reduced in the chamber A and a consequent flow of acidfrom the chamber B should be produced, causing an increase of pressureabove the desired limit, no further or subsequent flow of acid couldtake place on account of the checkvalve G being held open, as abovedescribed, and therefore when the agitator-blades are again set inmotion there will be no excessive quantity oi acid in the chamber A,thus avoiding all liability of explosion from a sudden evolution of avolume of gas too great to be relieved by the safety-valve I.

In starting the apparatus7 the chamber l5 having been tilled with acidto the levelof the top of the delivery-pipe D, asmall additionalquantity of acid is poured in through the opening 7:., which is thenimmediately closed by screwing the capZ tightly down tliereover. Thisraises the level of the acid above the top ot' the pipe D, causing it toilow simply7 by gravitation down through said pipe D into thealkali-chamber A, containing the usual supply of marble-dust and watei.Thegas generated iu the chamber A then rises into the pipe D, and whenthe pressure in the chamber A rises to a sufficient height it will forcethe column of liquid in the pipe D bodily upward and into the chamberl5, compressing the gas therein until such pressure, plus the column ofliquid inthe pipe D, 1s equal to the gas-pressure in the chamber A. Theflow of acid will then cease until the pressure in the chamber A islowered. The gas in the chamber B will then expand, and, being preventedby the valve G from passing through the pipe D, will force the liquid`through said pipe, when the iiow ot the acid will be resumed. The actionis thus automatic and regulated by the generation of gas in the chamberAand the rapidity with which such gas is used, no care oi' attention onthe part of the attendantbeing necessary so long as the acid chambercontains a supply of acid, the operation ot' the apparatus being thusregulated with the greatest nicety. Atter the apparatus has been startedthe governor K is set by screwing down the cap r, and therebycompressing the spring q sultieiently to counterbalanee the workingpressure desired in the generator, as indicated by the pressure-gage 1I,after which,wlien from any cause the pressii re in the chamber B risesabove the desired limit, the valve G will be raised by the action of thegovernor K and held open until the pressure is reduced below the fixedlimit, as previously described.

The acid-chamber is provided at its bottom with an opening d tofacilitate the operation of washing out said chamber, the opening beingclosed by a screw-cap e', and the alkalichamber is also provided with asuitable outlet-pipe f', controlled by a valve g', through which thecontents may be drawn out when desired.

XVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. In a carbonic-acid-gas generator, the conibination, with theacid-chamber having with- IOO IIO

in it a siphon communicating with the alkalichamber and provided with -aback-pressure or check valve, substantially as described, of

a pressure regulating governor connected with said check-valve andadapted to hold the latter open whenever the pressure in theacid-chamber rises to or above a point at which said governor has beensetto act, substantially as set forth.

2. In a carbonic-acid-gas generator, the combination of an acid-chamber,a Siphon placed within said chamber and communicating with thealkali-chamber, said siphon being provided with a back-pressure or checkvalve, which when open Will equalize the pressure in the acid and alkalichambers and prevent the iow of the acid, and an adjustablepressure-regulating governor having a spring and diaphragm, the latterconnected with said check-valve in such manner as to permit the latterto operate independently of the governor, said governor being adapted tohold the check-valve open Whenever the pressure in the acid-chamber isat or above the desired limit, substantially as set forth.

3. In a carbonio-acid-gas generator, the combination, with theacid-chamber, of a vertical pipe rising within said acid-chamber andcommunicating with the alkali-chamber, an outer casing or jacketsurrounding said vertical pipeand provided at its bottom with an inletfor the passage of the acid to the space between said vertical pipe andits outer casing or jacket, a back-pressu re or check valve applied tothe upper end of the jacket above the end of the vertical pipe inclosedtherebyand opening -into the acid-chamber, and an adjustablepressure-regulating governor loosely connected With the check-valve andadapted t0 open the same and hold it open Whenever the pressure in theacid-chamber 'rises t0 or above a point at which said governor has beenset to act, substantially as set forth.

4. In a carbonic-acid-gas generator, the combination of thealkali-chamber A, the acidchamber B, provided With a pressure-gage H,the vertical pipe D, rising Within said acidchamber and communicatingWith the alkalichamber, the outer casing or jacket E, surrounding thepipe D and provided at its bottom With an inlet for the passage of theacid to the space between the pipe D and its jacket E, the back-pressureor check valve G at the upper end of the jacket E, saidv valve openinginto the acid-chamber, the adjustable pressure-regulating governor K,having the spring q, screw-cap r, and diaphragm m, the latter connectedby means of the coupling L with the stem b of the valve G in such manneras to permit said valve to operate independently ot the governor, saidgovernor being adapted to hold the valve G open Whenever the pressure inthe acid-chamber is at or above the desired limit, all operatingsubstantially in the manner and for the purpose 65 described. Y Witnessmy hand this 23d day of March, A.

PATRICK J. MAGUIRE. In presence 0f-l P. E- TEsoHEMAoHER, J. F. HINDS.

